SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This 1935 version of Leo Tolstoy's famous novel did pretty much what I was expecting it to -- strip the novel down to a standard, melodramatic love story.Anna's affair with Vronsky and feud with her husband isn't the most interesting thing about Tolstoy's novel. It's how this love triangle is used to highlight aspects of Russian culture at the time, including attitudes about class, gender roles, sex, you name it. Anna isn't even the most interesting character, and though the book is named for her, she disappears for long stretches of time. The film's primary reason for existence is to showcase Greta Garbo in the title role, and she suffers as nobly as she always did, but what a dull affair the movie makes of that suffering. In the very first scene, Clarence Brown suggests that he might direct the film with something other than studio assembly line efficiency. A reverse tracking shot down the length of an opulently decked out dinner table calls attention to itself, and part of me wants to believe that this shot, visually mimicking the movement of a train between parallel tracks, was purposely used by Brown to foreshadow Anna's eventual tragedy. But this first shot is the last time Brown displays any amount of stylistic creativity, and it ends up sticking out like a sore thumb in a movie that's otherwise directed with pedestrian anonymity.Grade: C

There are many good reasons to watch this version of Anna; close fidelity to Tolstoy's masterpiece is not one of them, as in it's day, long adaptations were not the norm, and one cannot expect most of Anna Karenini in 95 minutes. There are numerous other versions out there in Movieland much more complete and detailed--but they lack the main ingredient.I would have paid full price to see this version for two main reasons: One, for the first ten minutes, a spectacular studio-recreation of a never-was military banquet with a dazzling tracking shot that seems to go on forever, studio forces marshaled to produce an extravagant opulence only from MGM! And then there's Garbo! One of the people watching this film with me was hushed and amazed later commenting that she had heard Garbo was beautiful but had no idea she was so incredibly ravishing--and she is, a perfect Anna in so many ways, with her largely blank, gorgeous features allowing other characters and the viewer to project their own fantasies onto her character. No one comes close.Beware the deadly tot actor Bartholomew, who was effective under Cukor's direction in David Copperfield, but here with Clarence Brown is unctuously sticky, a sweet kid Rathbone would have fried for breakfast; the latter is dryly caustic as Anna's inflexible mate, and Fredric March is serviceable as Vronsky. This version is all about Garbo.

None But the Lonely Heart ANNA KARENINA (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1935), directed by Clarence Brown, stars Greta Garbo in the title role taken from the classic 1877 epic novel by Count Leo Tolstoy. As much as the story had been told and re-told several times on screen, dating back to the early days of silent cinema to the 2012 Academy Award nominated production, this edition, next to CAMILLE (MGM, 1936), has become one of Garbo's most celebrated of tragic heroines. Having already enacted that same basic character in the silent version titled LOVE (MGM, 1927) opposite John Gilbert, the major difference between that and this first sound remake is that this latest Garbo carnation happens to be an improvement over the old in both style and direction.Set in nineteenth century Russia, Count Alexei Vronsky (Fredric March), a military officer on leave from the Russian Army, enjoys himself at a gathering with the company of his regiment, one of them being his friend, Stiva (Reginald Owen), a married man and womanizer. The next morning, both Vronsky and Stiva arrive at the train station where Vronsky is to meet with his mother (May Robson) traveling from St. Petersburg, while Stiva comes to greet his sister, Anna Arkadyevna Karenina (Greta Garbo). Anna's raving beauty catches the attention of Vronsky who immediately falls in love with her. Shortly upon her arrival, Anna and the others witness the accidental death of a railroad inspector swept underneath the wheels of a moving train. Anna, quite affected by this, calls this tragedy "an evil omen." After her weekend visit with Stiva, his wife, Dolly (Phoebe Foster), their children, Tania (Cora Sue Collins) and Grisha (Buster Phelps), along with her younger sister, Kitty (Maureen O'Sullivan), Anna, on the train back to her home in Moscow, encounters Vronsky once again where he confesses his admiration for her. Although married with a son, Sergei (Freddie Bartholomew), whom she adores, Anna, quite lonely and wanting true love, turns to Alexei at the risk of he losing his position in the army. As her bureaucrat husband, Karenin (Basil Rathbone) learns of Anna's infidelity through the gossip of others, he forces his wife to make a decision that, either way, would change the course of her life forever.Released the very same year as David O. Selznick's lavish productions of Charles Dickens' "David Copperfield" and "A Tale of Two Cities," classic literature transferred to film became the rage during that time. Selznick's edition of ANNA KARENINA is definitely no disappointment. Both Garbo dramatic ability and Clarence Brown's skillful direction make the film for what it is. Garbo's Anna Karenina (not to be confused with another titled character, "Anna Christie" Garbo portrayed in from 1930), is presented as one most people love and admire. Though she solves the troubled marriage of her brother and romantic problems for her younger sister (who happens to have a crush on Vronski), she's unable to salvage the troubles in her own. Because of her illicit affair, Anna becomes an social outcast. However, she retains one loyal admirer, Yashvin (Reginald Denny) whom she sadly tells him, "It's very generous of you not to hate me." Though Fredric March comes across well as Anna's self-centered lover, Basil Rathbone's presence simply overshadows that of the other male co-stars. At this point, Rathbone, noted for playing villains, isn't a villain here but simply a cold-hearted husband who's become the victim of a loveless marriage. Having to lie to his son that his mother is dead is further evidence of Rathbone's versatility as an actor as he brings both sympathy and vengeance within himself. His climatic scene comes as he forces Anna, after going against his wishes to visit with Sergei on his birthday, to leave. The camera captures both Anna's emotion in foreground full range at the same moment Karenin stands at a distance on the top of the stairway, twice yelling to her before the door closes, "Do you hear!" Of the many members of the cast, including Ethel Griffies, Harry Beresford and Joan Marsh, the biggest surprise comes from the presence of Constance Collier's notable supporting performance that goes uncredited. Clarence Brown's direction should not go without mention. Nearly forgotten, his style to detail comes through the use of the camera. His backward camera tracking over the long dinner table with guests is a visual style he repeated from his silent Russian setting costume drama of THE EAGLE (United Artists, 1925), starring Rudolph Valentino and Vilma Banky.While ANNA KARENINA may not contain every moment captured in the Tolstoy novel, it does offer enough ingredients to satisfy those who have never even read the book. Not overly long (97 minutes) for something that could have gone over two hours, in later years, the movie itself has available in both video and DVD formats. To compare with this and latter remakes, notably the 1948 British made version starring Vivien Leigh and Ralph Richardson for 20th Century-Fox, as well as the made-for-television adaptations, watch for this version the next time it turns up on Turner Classic Movies. (****)

I'm over sixty, and it took that long to get access to seeing all of Garbo's films. This begins quite well, but quickly devolves into an attempt at "epic" film-making, and we lose the intimacy Anna gains with Vronsky which she didn't find with her husband, although her cold, stifled marriage is successfully conveyed with a terrific Basil Rathbone as Karenin.In the previous silent version that Garbo sizzled with John Gilbert (in the role of Vronsky) in the 1927 "Love," more attention is given to the lovemaking. This 1935 version is well directed by Clarence Brown, but transitional scenes feel truncated at the expense of large set pieces (a ball, the opera, etc.).Garbo remains imposing however, not only as a physical presence, but also as a woman whose choices will never make her happy. I found myself watching her hands as much as that gorgeous face.Vronsky is given short shrift here. Neither his revelry which attracts a stifled Anna, nor his restlessness are ever developed. He's here and gone and she's under the tracks before we have much time to care one way or the other. The final scene with a mourning Count makes no impression (on us the audience or seemingly Frederick March the actor).As a relic of David O. Selznick's famous lavish detailed productions, it's memorable.